JN Hockey Tournaments : Jiribam beat Imphal West 5-2 to seal U-17 boys' title, Bishnupur vs Jiribam in U-15 boys' final
Source: The Sangai Express

Imphal, August 23 2024: Jiribam district represented by Lalpani Government High School were crowned U-17 boys' champions in the State Level JN Hockey Tournament organised by the Department of Youth Affairs and Sports.

Jiribam district team sealed the three-team tournament with a 5-2 win over Imphal West represented by UNACCO School today for the second straight victory.

They had won their first game 10-1 against Jai Hind High School, Mantripukhri representing Imphal East on the opening day to bolster their title hopes.

JN Hockey Tournaments : Jiribam beat Imphal West 5-2 to seal U-17 boys' title, Bishnupur vs Jiribam in U-15 boys' final

Coming off a massive 15-1 win over Imphal East team, UNACCO boys gave their Jiribam rivals a good competition in the opening quarter but faltered in the remaining quarters to go down by 2-5 goals today.

N Gerir opened the scoring for UNACCO in the 8th minute but S Sanson Singh pulled level for the Jiribam team within two minutes.

After settling the first quarter in a 1-1 draw, Jiribam went ahead with a narrow lead thanks to a 2-1 lead in the second quarter with W Derish converting a penalty corner in the 25th minute.

K Sanjit (32') and Malemnganba AK (38') further extended the lead to 4-1 added twice in the third quarter.

UNACCO's Wahengbam Paikhom converted a penalty corner in the 48th minute to half the deficit but their comeback effort did not materialise and saw K Sanjit help Jiribam regain their three goal cushion off a penalty corner in the 50th minute.

The scoreline remained unchanged despite efforts from both ends to end up in the remaining 10 minutes.

TG English School vs Lalpani Government HS in U-15 boys title clash

The day also saw completion of the final line up of the U-15 boys' competition with Bishnupur's TG English School defeating Kakching's Iramdam Maheikol 4-3 and Jiribam's Lalpani Government HS defeating Thoubal's Five Star English High School 8-3 in the semi-final matches staged this afternoon.

In the first semi-final match, Bishnupur fought from two goals down to win the seven goal thriller.

K Dhinaraj scored back to back goals in the 6th and the 8th minutes to give Kakching a 2-0 early advantage in the first quarter.

Bishnupur's L Raju converted a penalty corner in the 11th minute to make it 1-2 but L Nongpoknganba scored a field goal in the 6th minute to help Kakching retain the 2-goal advantage and led the first two quarters 3-1 .

Neither team found the target in the third quarter but the Bishnupur team rode on goals from W Nganba (47') and O Goutam (54', 57') to turn things around and stun the Kakching side.

Later in the second semi-final match, Jiribam rode on a treble from M Boynao (24', 57', 58') and doubles from K Suraj (18', 29') and Maibam Manimatum (23', 54') to seal a comfortable 8-3 win over Thoubal whose S Telson (4', 48') and K Deny (49') were on target.

W Vishal (13') also contributed a goal to Jiribam's tally.

Earlier in the ultimate Group A match for U-15 boys Tournament, Kakching defeated Thoubal 3-2 to finish group winners.

Thoubal, meanwhile, finished group runners courtesy of a win against Imphal East and thus qualified for the semi-finals.

The final match starts tomorrow at 2.30 pm.

The closing ceremony will be held after the match.